cetus

@Ilya I've read stories about that too. But what enlightened person would release his body before it's intended time, Besides, where could he go when he's already everywhere?

@ajasatya@Extreme Z7 We're all here to help each other and in a positive way ONLY. Others also benefit from any constructive advise.

@Dodo You nailed it!

@naive13 The sense self/ego started when the consciousness 'I am' first appeared. But what is it that witnessed this birth? What where you before you were born? To quote Nisargadatta: " 8 days before your conception" That would be the only self to practice strengthening. If you could even call it a self.

@Marinus Digging deep! You'll mature quickly with that. Keep going!

@Why? Detachment is to- Manifest Plainness Embrace Simplicity Reduce Selfishness Have few Desires -Lao Tzu

@Peace and Love If she truly believes TM (specifically) will help her with the PTSD, I'd say she should go for it. Mainly because she herself suggested it. That in itself may be giving her a feeling of personal control over the PTSD. I don't know this person, but hearing a little back story, she may not trust other ppl now or their suggestions no matter how well intended and effective. She may reject it straight out or have doubt about it in the back of her mind, therefore rendering it ineffective. The bottom line here, maybe a little bit of a placebo effect is just what is needed. Plus the meditation of course. Just something to consider. Best wishes.

What is the substance of Reality? I've always hoped physics (super string theory) would answer that question someday. But it seems that the more answers physicists get, the more the questions arise. So as realizing the futility and paradox of attempting to answer such a question- 'Silver bells and cockle shells' is just as good an answer as any.

@5driedgrams The problem is most people are so deeply invested in life only they dare not look beyond it. Sadly enough, here is their story.

@Ilya When the master is teaching your only job is to be listening with a still mind and not be thinking of questions. If you listen quietly to every word spoken you should have no questions. Also, the master may feel your not ready to hear the answer to a question you may have asked. When your ready to hear they will tell you without you asking and not a moment before. Anybody can ask the big questions, but not everybody is ready to hear the big answers. It has nothing to do with their emotional mastery. It has to do with your emotional mastery. Imagine if everyone in the group starting throwing their monkey mind questions at the master. Shit would get nowhere fast! Do you really think that a spiritual master is in some way the same as a university professor? Or should abide by the same procedure of teaching that YOU expect? Spiritually is not a black and white, yes or no type of discipline. It's just not taught that way. I'm certainly no master by any stretch of the imagination, and yet I feel that by answering your questions here I have done you a disservice in a way. I can see quite clearly now why those rules of silence are in place. I never really thought about it much before. But now that you've bought up the question, the answer has become quite obvious. And I'm sure if you would have thought about it without asking here, you would have come to the same conclusion on your own.

@Ragib Ashraf Absolutely correct. Having an idea or concept about it can often lead to looking in all the wrong places. It's over here but you may spend years looking over there. Or looking right past it even. Nothing wrong with the looking per se. But the looking should have no set direction. This may be another way to put it, 'It hides in every shadow'. By that I mean, just as physical objects create shadows, so do concepts. If you have some concept, don't look directly at it, look at it's shadow.

@Anna1 Great video. Awareness was liberated from the body location. Love it!

Here is a bit more information on that.

I used an Emwave2 Heart coherence monitor for a while. I thought I'd give it a try it just out of curiosity. It trains you to stay in a relaxed but focused point on the breath as it registers heart coherence as the feedback. If the mind wonders too far, it will let you know in real time via computer graphing program whether your in the zone of coherence or not.. Once you find that 'zone' or sweet spot you experience sort of synchronization between mind, breath and heart. Long term meditators do that of course. But who knows how long it may take to find that balanced 'coherence zone' that seasoned masters experience. This gives you real time feedback so it takes the guess work out of it. I found it to be a bit distracting though at times so I would do a 20 min. meditation session with the Emwave2, just to get into coherence, than continue into a regular meditation after the session ended.

The universe is one big cosmic joke and I'm the punch line.

Try listening to this. It's not psychedelics but it may open some doors for you.

@Big_D Here's the big problem with that. The longer you extend the time before sunset puts you at higher risk of eye damage. The sun is higher in the sky 30 minutes or more before sunset. Therefore less atmosphere to filter out harmful rays. As far as building a muscle. As I mentioned above, the most harmful light waves of the Sun's spectrum aren't perceivable to the human eye. You have no visible way of detecting what your actually lifting here. Not to mention, your killing your night vision. Multiple exposures add up over time in all kinds of ways. Take that into consideration too. Just a friendly warning guys. There your eyes. .@AleksM 'Sungazing Benefits'? That's a list of benefits for (moderate) skin exposure to the Sun. Sure it's healing in all kinds of ways. @Big_D Just noticed that one. Yea, that's long term damage happening for sure. Seriously, that shit adds up over time. You wanna gaze at something amazing for hours at a time, go outside in the middle of the night and lay there and gaze at the starry sky in all it's vastness. You'll realize what a speck of dust you are amongst the cosmos. It doesn't get any better than that IMO.

@Costa7 Do you mean looking directly at the sun? That is very dangerous of course without the proper eye protection. Maybe I misunderstand what you mean by 'sun gazing'? Most of the damaging rays from the sun's light are beyond the visible spectrum of the human eye. You could be doing damage without even realizing it. Answer 1: Damage to the eyes from sun exposure can take two forms: short-term damage and long-term damage. Short-term damage ("solar retinopathy") occurs when a person stares directly at the sun, and is a result of too much ultraviolet light flooding the retina. In extreme cases this can cause blindness, but is so painfull that it is rare for someone to be able to stare at the sun for that long. Typically, eye damage from staring at the sun results in blurred vision, dark or yellow spots, pain in bright light or loss of vision in the center of the eye (the fovea). Permanent damage to the retina has been shown to occur in ~100 seconds, but the exact time before damage occurs will vary with the intensity of the sun on a particular day (clouds and haze can weaken the sun's rays) and with how much the viewer's pupil is dilated (decongestants and other drugs will dilate pupils). Obviously, no one has done a study to measure the exact time before damage or blindness occurs, but doctors collect information after events like the 1999 solar eclipse, when people who stared directly at the sun for several minutes went to see their doctor. In one study, about half had permanent damage. Short-term damage can be easily prevented: never look directly at the sun. During sunsets, when the intensity of ultraviolet light is lower due to scattering, avoid looking directly at the sun for more than a few minutes at a time. Sunglasses and camera filters do not prevent short-term damage, and may make it more likely by dilating your pupil and/or allowing you to stare at the sun longer without pain. Long-term damage is also caused by the effects of ultraviolet light, and can result in cataracts (cloudy spots on the eye lens), corneal sunburn and growths on the surface of the eye. This type of damage can be the result of a lifetime of sun exposure, and the effects usually don't show up until people are in their 50's or later. Long-term damage is harder to prevent, especially in people who spend a lot of time outside. The best prevention is to wear sunglasses that block UV light (both UVA and UVB).

When in meditation the thought 'I am' disappears. When the thought 'I am' disappears, so does the world.

Reality is created from the single thought 'I Am'

@Principium Nexus

@Socrates Reality is the substance of reality. Reality just happens within itself. Reality has up's and downs as it ebb's and flows_____and all the while it comes and goes. Your question inspired a moment of contemplation and to write something to share. Whatever reality is made of, enjoy it while it's here.

@Ilya If it is true, I wonder what effect consciousness may be having on the findings of particle behavior at CERN. Just something to consider.